Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) has collaborated with CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (CSIR-IICT) to develop innovative Bio-reactor design to maximize Bio-Methane production for Compressed Biogas (CBG) made from agricultural waste residues such as wheat straw, rice straw, sugarcane bagasse, etc.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr. V. Ravi Kumar, CGM (R&D), Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited said, “Large scale production of agricultural waste residues will enable to reduce India’s dependency on crude oil and will also enhance rural Income and the same by-product can be used as manure, which leads to more natural irrigation avoiding the use of chemical fertilizers.”

The MoA was inked by Dr. V. Ravi Kumar, CGM (R&D) on behalf of BPCL and Dr. D. Shailja, Chief Scientist & Head, Business Development & Research Management, CSIR-IICT in the presence of Dr. A. Gangagni Rao, Chief Scientist, CSIR-IICT and Dr. Bharat Newalkar, GM (R&D), Dr. Jaya Rawat, DGM (R&D), Dr. Vivek Rathore, Ch. Mgr. (R&D) and CRDC Bio-fuel team members.

This program was virtually attended by Sanjeeb Paul, CGM Biofuels & Major Projects (E&P)-HQ, Sanjeev Pol, Project Leader-E&P, Dipesh Kamdar, DGM-Technology Biofuels (E&P)-HQ and Shashwat Verma, Manager Technology Biofuels (E&P)-HQ.

Bharat Petroleum has plans to expand its renewable energy portfolio to 1.0 GW by 2025, through solar (800 MW), wind (100 MW), small hydro (60 MW), and biomass (40 MW).